Articulated ornamental covering for flexible apparel accessories



J. KAPLAN 2,502,221 ARTICULATED ORNAMENTAL COVERING FOR FLEXIBLE APPAREL ACCESSORIES March 28, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheret 1 Filed Aug. 10, 1945 wo Ww? W@ A@ MEM I.

lla-ing.

n INVENToR. JFICOB KnPL/IlN TTO'QNEY March 28, 1950 4 J. KAPLANl v v ARTICULATED ORNAMENTAL FLEXIBLE APPAREL Ac Filed Aug. 1o, 1945 ,.4 Sheets-Sheet 2 GOVERING" FoR d Y cEssoRIEs i 1NVENToR. JACOB KQPLHN 4 TTG/QNEY J. KAPLAN 2,502,221 ARTICULA ORNAMENTAL covERI Foa FLEXI APPAREL AccEssoR March' 2s, 195o 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Aug. 1o, 1945v INVENTOR. JACOB K I! PLA N TTO/QNEY March 28, 1950 J. KAPLAN 2,502,

l ARTICULATED ORNAMENTAL covERING FOR v FLEXIBLE A RPAREL ACCESSORIES 4 Sheets-Sheet- 4 l INVENToR. Jnco KAPLHN lITTOQNEY IIIIIIII.

Patented Mar. 28, v1950 y I UNITED STATE s f irxfrisiur oFFlcE ,ARTICULATED ORNAMENTAL oovEmNG fFoR 'FLEXIBLE vimmuni, vaccessories `Jacob Kaplan, BronxN. Y. ,Application August 19,1945, serial N. $10.102

'This invention relates vto articulated surfaces s .uchjasL are employed for the ornamental coveringjol vflexible apparel accessories, like handbags, beltsyetc.

` "Moreg-particularly, the `invention is concerned with an articulated 'surface comprising a yplurality 'of rigid rno'lded plaques which are hinged together in such manner "that any plaque can 'be swung to a limited extentre'lative to vall adjoin- .ingjplaques 'The plaques are hollow and open atfthe rear, preferably 'being made `of a plastic. i. fe any :one :of :a .large ygroup of natural and vsynthetic organic materials derived vfrom lcellusignple `twok-par't ldie'can :mold -the same, completev with itsgthreading apertures, rin one operation. ',Weveig such articulated i `surfaces expose the 'us allowing .them Yto become dirty and .In the other ty-pe of yarticulated surface, .the threading apertures are holes which run laterally through vertical, rearwardly extending peripheral "walls yof the gplaques. This plaque `has the advantage of 'concealing the laces, but `it can notbe molded in a two-part die in'oneoperation. Such plaques `either require dies consisting of three or more relatively movable parts, or the threading apertures must lbe made Aafter the plaqueismolded.

It is va primary object of my .invention to provide plaques of ithecharacter described which, like present-day plaquea-can be laced together but in which v'the.threading apertures 4areyso "-loelated thatjtheflaces .are barely visible and ywhich are so Kconstructed that,they .can be molded in one yoperation 'bya fsimple `two-part die.

` 'It-is another object :of /my-'inven'tionto provide an articulated surface of the character described which is fvery flexible Lbothforwa-rdly and re- -verse1y.

'Itis a furtherrob'ject ofimyinvention ftoprovide l'sturdy plaques which can be llacedflin,gcthier .iin simple'-andiinexpensivefmanner. 1

An additional object of my invention is to proyvide an articulated surface 'having "plaques hingedly joined by a single series of non-intersecting laces, as distinguished fromthe transverse series of lacesfheretofore employed. V

:Still another object of "my invention ls toprovide a handbag 'covered with an articulated surface having oblique -articulatedfhollow corners. f Yet another object of vmy ,invention is `to provide an articulated `surface of the character described Whichvshall lac-economical to manufacture `and durable nin use.

l Other objects ofthe invention will'in part 'be obvious and ,in part hereinafter pointed gout;

1 The invention, Aaccordingly;-consists vof the -features of construction, :combinations of yelements and arrangements of parts which will be exemplified =in the constructions hereinafter described. and vof which the scope 'ofapplication will be indicated in the appended claims.

` In the accompanying drawings, in Vvwhich are shown various `possible embodiments of my Vin vention,

I die shownfin Egrli 1' l.

Fig. ,3 'is-an ledge-view of said vrplaque g'fFigs. v4 vand "5 ,are sectional 'views -`through saidV plaque, taken substantially :along the lines 4-'4 6 yis a perspective Avievv .of a vcorner of a. plaque embodying :a rmodified form of :my invention, wherein -a lace `is adapted Ato ibe slipped'sideways into la threading aperture;

'Fig 7 is a fragmentary rear view of an artic ulated surf-ace embodying `my invention, different types of lacing being illustrated indifferent parts of Isaid surface;

Fig. 8 is la lfront `view of -an yarticulated surface embodyingmy invention and Vso constructed that it is adapted to form `alhandbag covering having peaked side `edges 'and a flat 'bottom Vedge;

Figi!) isa perspective viewof a handbagcovered -v with the articulated lsurface-fshownfin Fig. 8,;

' Fig. `10 is a'fragmentar-y sectional -view 4taken substantially along thefline 't0-lll of 1 ig..9, thel interior portions-of the lacing 4being omitted so that the relative disposition of the plaques canibe seen fmore clearly;

Fig. 11 is a ffragmentaryxtopfplanrviewofthe Fig. 11, the interior lacing being omitted fiorthe reason :above mentioned;

ered with an articulated surfac'eyernbodying another modied form of my invention; and

Fig. 18 is a similar view of vahandbag embody- ,v I.

ing still another form of my inventioh.

In general, I attain the objects of myinvention relating to the plaques, by providing a plaque.; having. a rearwardly extending peripheralrim with through slots in its `bottom edge located in the registered positions at which the threading apertures` are to be. disposed. The outer side of each slot near itsopen bottom end is bridged by a projection integralwith and extending outwardly from said rim adjacent its bottom edge. Each slot and vprojection cooperate to define a threading aperture extending from the bottom surface. o f the plaque to the outer. side surface of. the rim.:` Thus, registered pairs of threading apertures, because they donotrun to the top surfacesof; the.p1aques ,"can be located very close to `eachother .(double the distance .a projection-extends from the rim),- thereby preventing-substantial exposure of the laces. .At the same time, however, due to the peculiar forma-` tion ofthethreading apertures, the plaques can bef cast in a simple two-part mold in one operation. Iiurthermore if desired, lacing may be .expedited by forn'ling slots in the ledge, each offset from the center of and running into a threading apertura-sothat alace may be slipped into each aperture instead-of having toV be :inserted endmost therethrough.

With respect -to-v thelacing, the basic novelty of the invention consists in hingedly joining the plaques with'frowsloflaces whiblrdo notintersect but, nevertheless, permitflexure of the articulated surface about-transverse axes. To obtain such a desirable reesultghthe= plaques are made in polygonall shape and," each side is provided with two threading `aperti/tres instead of v the one now commonly employed rlhese threading apertures are disposed adjaeentthe ends of the sides, i. e., at the corners of the plaques, and the apertures in adjacent plaques arejregistered. Each line or row oflacing hingediyjpins together the plaques in two rows, instead ofi; one as heretofore, by passing thrmglr,oneatteny another sets of adjacent registeredthreadingaperturesvaround every. place inthe-.two rows offplafllies where thecorjf; ners of severalplaquesmeet at a commonpoint;

Thus, at` every1-such point a plaque in one row is hingedly joined t o. one or infore plaques in theV same-row as -well as toone or moreplaques in the adjoining row., and, in this way, the need for; a'transverse set of laces is'obviated:

-,The object of Hmy yinventionconcerning the hollow oblique articulated corners of a handbag is; achieved. by utilizing a fewtriangular plaques of the proper size and angularity in conjunction' with quadrilateral plaques in lthe main body of ithe articulated surface;

ously shaped corners canbeiobta-ined, 'this 4.be-1.

Bydifferentlyv arranging' these two typesfofplaques, alarge-.Variety otvaring a marked improvement over present-day handbags, in which the corners of the bags are either not hollow, or, if hollow, are orthogonal. Referring now in detail to the drawings and,

more particularly to Figs. 2-5, I have there shown a plaque 20 embodying my invention and adapted to 'form one element of an articulated surface. Said plaque comprises a rectangular top wall 22 having rearwardly extending peripheral walls 'comprising front and back walls 24 and side walls 2S. A flange or ledge 28 integrally projects a short-distance from the bottom edges of the front, 4back and side walls, said ledge extending par- -fallel to the top wall 22. Although for purposes of illustration I have shown the top wall as rec- "tangular, it will be understood that such shape may be modified in any suitable fashion. Thus, by way of example, said` wall may be square, triangular, hexangular vor circular. .In order to minimize exposure of the laces which hingedly4 connect the plaques, the rearwardlyI extending peripheral walls are vertical, i. e., perpendicular, to the plane deined by all the top. walls in an articulated surface when the same isunexed, it being understood that the peripheral walls mayv have a conventional draft to .facilitate removal of `the plaques from amold.

may be concave or convex or of any other desired contour. It is particularly vemphasized, how-V ever,.that if .the edges of. the top wall are in-'Q clined, such edges form no part of thevertical peripheral walls. A. v A plaque, such as just described, has a hollow interior which opens at the4 rear'. Said plaque 2li is vmade from any suitable moldable material. plastics being preferred because of their lightness and ease of molding. i Pursuant to my. invention, I providethreadingv apertures 3B inthe vertical peripheral walls 24, 26. Each of these aperturescomprises a slot 32 which extends laterally through the wall in which it is disposed and runs up-from. .the bottom edge of said wall. to above the top ofthe rledge 23. The ledge 2B bridges a portion of the/'slot adjacent itsoperi` bottom end, and,with.the slot defines thethreading aperture. A slotof this nature can be molded by a fixed projection in that part of the mold which imparts. thel desired conguration to the bottom surface ofthe plaque, yet the resulting threading aperture is not exposed on the. top surface of the plaque, so that the threading apertures can be placed close together, if desired.` K l The space between the peripheral walls of ad jacent plaques, and thus the extent to which the. lacing is exposed, is determined bythe width of the ledges 28, and said ledgestherefore, may be made as narrow asis consistent withstr'ength.' Said ledges, in addition to functioning as an edge. of each threading aperture, reinforce the periph-v eral Walls vof the plaque and thus provide the plaques with a greater inherentstre'ngth than that of those now sold commercially.

lIf desired, the slots 32 may extend a slight distance into the ledge 28, it being noted that the. opening 341I thus created .will be substantially. concealed .by the lacing. Y. However, in general, itl desirable to minimize the depth of the opening' 34. i In 'accordance withan ancillary f eatureof my invention, I may provide means associated withl eachthreading-.aperturevto expedite the threadimg ofalaingcord er tape therethrough. -Suchf 'I5 means. as illustrated.y .comm-bes..a trackitiriclud-- asesinar" in'g"='two"spaced parallel Irib's 38, `iie-inn'g#anfopen channel leading upto Ithe 'aperture 30. VSaid' channel is molded'in ther top wall 22,-and the-base of the channel 'adjacent' Athe aperture is sub-- stantially o'i thesame Vshape `as thematohing part of said-aperture, so that the-end of a'cord'pushed-V along the channel will lbe guided into i the-thread. ing aperture, Thefouter ends 'olf the ribsl=38 lmayf be -flaredtoifaeilitat'e'insertion ofthe end of 'theV cord inthe track.v Y fr In Fig. 1, Ivhaveshownatwoepartmolding die/ILfadapted to'iorm'a plaque 2il,"such as just described. lSaiddiecorisistsioi two parts 44,46]-

the `'loweri of which vvhas fa' plurality-"of projections '48 forlmaking theslots13'2. n y y The vformation of the threadingv apertures 535 mayfbe altered somewhatjas indicatedin' Figlfd to expedite threading `of Athe'laces in suchmanner` that rthe laces can--be-slipped edgewise into-said apertures rather than be inserted endmostthere-F u through. i l i As shown in said' figure, the plaque-12Wincludes. threading-apertures 30' which are formed inthe aperture comprises a 'slot32f extending through theperipheral'wallf24" and'running upfrom the bottom ofv said wallto above the top of the'ledge-- 2.8. 'HoweVeninfsaid lplaqne'i.'Ml" a secondv slot 50 fis provided, 'which is disposed immediately alongside the slot T32 and is in-1communicatio1t therewith at 52. The slotb 'eX-tends thr'oughlthe ledge 2B 1and the peripheral wallZ'l but need not be' as deep'astheslot 32. i ll y 'The two slots 3.2' -and''oombine to forma bayonet .or aLv-shape'd opening, oi which the-slot 50 ycomprises'the entry portion and the part of the slot'32" bridged by the ledge .28" comprises lthe locking portion, in'which the lace is disposed afterthe/same l is slipped edgewise through -thel entry slot 50. Theportion 52,'common'to both'slots132 and T50, maybesomewhat constricted, ire., smaller in'diameter than'either of the 's1o'ts-32,559,so

that .the lace, kwhen passing from the 'entryito thellocking portion of thebayonet opening, vhas to besqueezed'zthrough the portion {s2-and lthus will tendto remain in the threadingaperture'llI Furthermore,'for areason which'willfbe soonap-f parent, .Iiprefer 'to disposethe `entry-'slots 1501'.

further .from the'corner than the slots'32, when a system Yof Y`lacing embodying a vfeature of Iny-4 invention, hereinafter described, `isemployed 1 to? articnlatedlyjoin rthe plaques 2U.

The plaques are arranged `in edge-to-edge' abutting relationship and in `transverse horizon-.f

tal .and `vertical vlinear alignment, as 'indicated intig` 7,zan'd are laced together in such positions" For this fpurpose 'any conventional `.transverse series of lacing cords vortapesmayaloe employed ineafmanner well known`to'the art.` However;-

pursuant to a feature of myinventionf `secure the :several plaques together in' `articulated rela-- tionship by 5 employing .a :single rion-intersectinglY seriesiorA laces, thus savingimaterial and expe-f' Basically, this novel systemk oi lacing is effected bypassing acord'or tapeithrough a'series of pairs of registered apertures'inrthe'side'wvalls of all oi the'plaques meeting yat a common point, these apertures being .disposed near said .point and the number ofsets of .apertures being'at least equaltoorno fewer than one lessi'than the number of plaqueszimeeting at suchxpoint. In yotherlv words,-l` ifi'four plaques meet'at Aa Apointwas is'the `:case l where-the ,plaquesiareiquadrilateral, vthen 1.a 'lace i" lated surface.

tered rapertures inthe side wallsr of said plaques' adjacenttlie common point. "The Vcord :will thus pass through a side .wall of at least every one of the' four plaquesnear fthe common Apoint `they all'surround and each such plaque can move hingedly'with respect to the other three.

'For convenience, that portion of the lace which. is passed through the pairs of registered apertures disposed around Aa .common point will bel referred to hereinafter as a lacing ring.

system ofv lacing which includes such rrin-gs susceptible ofmany modiiicationsand in Fig. 72 All of,

IT-have shown four-such modifications. thesemodifications are illustrated on'one articu-v that-any `oneot the different systems oi lacing niight be used to hingedly connect all the plaques in an articulated surface, or, if desired,l two or'more such systems might be employed ink a single articulated surface.

-Referring now tothe extreme left-hand side of Fig. 7, I 4hayethere shown a cord' employedto lacetogether apair-'SG of Vertical rows of plaques. Said cord is iirst passed through the top pair a oi theregistered threading apertures 3B in they side walls 25 of the uppermost pair of juxtaposed plaques A, B, and then through the bottom pair b of apertures in said'walls. Next, the cord is passedthrough the pair c of registered thread# ing apertures in the juxtaposed front and back" Iwalls of the plaques A, C, this set-'ofaperturesf being those nearest thepoint I, where'the plaques A, B, C and Dmeet. Now the thread is passed' through the pair a ofregistered threading apar tures in 'the' plaques vC, D.

That portionoi the cord which'passes counter.

clockwise through the last vthree mentioned sets of'registered threading apertures b, c `and a comprisesa'lacing ring.

Thethread now continues downwardly through the remaining plaques of the ypair 56 ofvertical rows, `the 'threading `operations being repeated. Knots 58 are 'tied at both ends of the oord immediately'adjacent the 'threading apertures "3U 'from vr'which the rfree lends of the cord extend.4

The oord 'shouldv be `drawn tight before these knots are tied, :so that there will bever-y little' playfbetween adjacent plaques. It will be noted that drawing the cordtight forces the same .to-

wards the corners of the plaques, and, ifbayonet.

apertures are employed, this prevents the cord from lslipping out of the entryportions of slots which are fur-ther `from `the corner than the? locking portions.

"These'two'vertical rows of plaques now can be' articulated either about a horizontal or vertical axis 'in either a for-ward `or reverse direction. A'

forward direction'denotes that the rearof the articulated surface is made concave-and a reI verse direction indicates that the rear of the articulated surface is made convex.

'fIt'is` pointed out that, where the lacing ring extends through lonly three-sets of registered aper tures,"as'indicatedin the pairEE of rows, the front of theiarticulated surface will show tiny portions of the cord-at'only three places around a com-'fA mon point', two of 'the portions'being spaced apart' 1809 fromv 'one another and 'the remaining" portions90.

Attention is also called to the liact that trans# verse articulation is rattainedfby this-system yof lacing, with ftheuse of non-intersecting cords or tapes, since at each `common vpoint I a 'lacing ringliingedly Ysecure'stog'ether all plagues surf rounding 'fs'aidfi poi-nt, fwhereas, 'fwhen transverse? However, it is to be understood! Sets of laces are employed, each lace only hinged-.f ly connects together plaques along a line. It will be observed further that the specific system of lacing just described leaves the outer edges of ad jacent plaques unattached. This is satisfactory if such edges are either fastened to the bag fabric or are laced to another row of plaques at the opposite side, end or bottom of the handbag. However, if it is desired to secure together these free edges of the plaques, it is only necessary to run a cord Bil through the registered pairs d of threading apertures at the left-hand side of the juxtaposed front and back walls of the plaques A, C, etc., as indicated. Instead of tying knots in the ends of the cords, one or both ends may be anchored by three pins 6|, dependingfrofm` the under surface of the top wall. These pins` are spaced apart a distance less than the thickness of the cord 60. cord, the same is squeezed between two .pins 6l, bent back on the center pin and then squeezed through between the center and remaining pin.

At the right of the pair 56 of rows I have shown' another pair 62 of vertical rows of plaques, laced together in a slightly different fashion which also includes the use of lacing rings. The cord 64, used to secure the rows 62 of plaques together, passes through the pairs of registered apertures in the following manner: a (between plaques F and E); c (between plaques E and G); a (between plaques G and H); d (between plaques H and F) b (between plaques F and E) d (between plaques E and G); c (between plaques G and J); a (between plaques J and K); etc. 1f the cords 54 and 64 are immediately adjacent, the right-hand row of plaques in the rows 56 will be the same as the left-hand row of plaques in the rows 62, i. e., the plaques B and E will be the same, the plaques D and G will be the same, etc.

Still another threading system is shown in the pair 66 of rows to the right of the pair 62 of rows. In this case the threading order of the cord E8 is clockwise in the lacing rings and is as follows: a (between plaques M and L); b (between plaques L and M) d (between plaques M i and O); a (between plaques O and N); b (between plaques N and O); etc., to the bottom of the pair 66 of rows, returning through the pairs c of apertures and finishing with the pair c of apertures between the plaques N and L.

At the extreme right-hand side of Fig. 7, I have shown yet another system of lacing, wherein the pairs 1G of rows of plaques are laced to-v gether by a cord 12, which passes through the threading apertures in the following order: a (between plaques P and Q); b (between plaques Q and P); c (between plaques P and R); a (be tween plaques R and S); d (between plaques S- and Q); c (between plaques Q and S); b (between plaques S and R); c (between plaques R and T); a (between plaques T and U); etc.

It will be observed that in the second and fourth lacing systems described, the lacing rings comprise that portion of the lacing which passes through the four pairs of registered apertures c, a, d, b, or b, c, a, d, around the points I, whereas in the third lacing system described herein, the lacing ring passes only through the three pairs of registered apertures b, d, a. However, in said third system, the cord 68 passes through all of the registered pairs of apertures c on its return run. Therefore, in each of the three lacing systems just referred to, four tiny portions of the cords 64, 68, 12 will be visible at the front oi'- the articulated surface around the points I.

i After Vall ofthe plaques in an articulated sur';

noted that with the lacing systems above clescribed, said apertures are left clear.

This method of securing an articulated surface to a handbag lining represents a marked im. provement over the methods heretofore employed. It has been the practice, generally, to

vbring the lentire articulated surface to a sewing To secure an end of,l the'y machine and there stitch the extending transverse lacesto a lining. Such method is cumbersome, asv the articulated surface is difcult to manipulate at a sewing machine. However, with4 my improved construction, the thread loops 13 are quickly and easily made by hand and very little sewing has to be done. Further, the threading apertures are very close to the lining so that the loops 13 are not noticeable. It will also be observed that the attachment thus obtained is highly efficient since the thread loops are anchored in the threading apertures and since the threading apertures which the loops pass through are at the corners of the plaques. This latter feature causes the plaques to be held down at the corners, whereas, up to now, plaques have been held down only centrally and the corners of the plaques became spaced from the lining, partioularly at the upper ends of the sides of a bag.

In Figs. 8-12, I have shown a complete articulated surface 'M as it appears before and after application to a handbag 1B. Said surface cornprises a plurality of horizontal and vertical rows of plaques 20 having threading apertures 30 formed therein as hereinabove described. Pur-I suant to a feature of the invention, I obtain an oblique articulated hollow corner in the coveringfor the finished bag, by substituting a triangularf plaque for each of the two endmost rectangular plaques in the central horizontal row 18 of plaques. plaques are the same lengths as the heights of the rectangular plaques and the slant sides of the 1 triangular plaques are equal to the widths of the rectangular plaques. Each side of the triangular plaques 8U is provided with two threading aper.

tures, one adjacent each corner thereof, these apertures being formed in the same manner as.

the apertures 30 in the rectangular plaques. The triangular plaques 80 are hingedly joined to the adjacent rectangular plaques by lacing rings which pass through either three or four pairs of registered apertures. Thus, the two left-hand rows of plaques are connected by a lacing system 19, such as shown in the pairs 66 of rows of Fig. 7, the return run of the lace being omitted.. This will hingedly join the left-hand triangular; plaque to the surrounding rectangular plaques.y

The two right-hand rows of plaques of Fig. 8 are joined by a lacing system such as shown in the pairs 56 of rows of Fig. 7.

The front or exposed face of the articulated surface 'I4 will, therefore, at each common pointA I at the bases of the triangular plaques in the left-hand or right-hand pair of vertical rows show only three tiny portions of the cord 19, as indicated in Fig. 8. However, if desired, an additional cord, such as the cord 60, may be threaded through the empty pairs of apertures.

The base sides 82 of said triangular.'

willow-roueasyl'peiuoes ifi-the threading Die atfother common points; asindicated byl" of Fla-a.; f AfterA fabrication of1 the flat articulated sur- 'f'ac'e completed, saidsurface is folded so that thecentral horizontal row 18`of plaques formsy a l-i'itbottcmV covering' edge for the handbag and the plaques above and -belowrsaid row form the covering for thefront and back faces of the-hand- "bag, theside edges'of these 'faces being laced tovide thebagwithpeaked (i. e., sharp or pointed) side edges 8l.. The,bottommostplaques in the end rows are also laced by a cord' 84 to the tri- .angular plaques 80.

In this manner I secure oblique hollow articulated bottom cornerson the bag, which completely cover the underlying fabric and whichare wholly composedofbut two kinds of simply fabricated plaques. The plaques 80 l:may be made isosceles in shape in order to. im-

In Figs, 13-16 I have illustrated a slightly different arrangement of plaques in an articulated surface 89 which obtains another form of oblique articulated hollow bottom corner. In this articulated'surface two central horizontal rows 9B, 92 of plaques are provided, each of said rows having the endmost plaques omitted and isosceles plaques 94 substituted therefor. All of the plaques in said surface are laced together so as to hingedly connect the same in accordance with any one of the systems illustrated in Fig. 7. When this articulated surface is folded to cover the handbag. the two rows 99, 92 of plaques are so muf tually arranged as to define a peaked bottom edge 9B for the bag, as illustrated in Fig. 14, it being observed that said rows are angularly disposed with respect to both the front and back faces of the bag. The isosceles plaques '5M are then laced together by a cord 98, which also laces together the juxtaposed side edges of the front and back faces of the handbag as illustrated in Figs. 14 and 16. In addition, said cord S8 secures the isosceles plaques to the adjacent terminal rectangular plaques in the endmost rows of plaques, as illustrated in Figs. 14 and l5. In this manner the bag is provided with peaked side edges Hm and a peaked bottom edge 96, and the bottom corners are, nevertheless, fully covered on each surface thereof by plaques, thereby protecting the underlying fabric. `rIn Fig. 17 there is shown an oblique, articulated hollow bottom corner H32, which can be used with a peaked bottom edge m4 and a fiat side edge IUE. To make this corner an isoceles plaque IBB is employed, the same having its base laced to the bottom terminal rectangular plaque l iD in the flat side edge 66 and its sloping sides laced to the terminal rectangular plaques H2 in the 'two rows of plaques comprising the peaked bottom edge lllll.r

Pursuant to my invention, triangular plaques also may be used to form oblique hollow artcu-- lated bottom corners where neither the bottom nor side edges of the handbag are peaked, this aspect of the invention being illustrated in Fig. 18. The articulated corner H4, shown therein, includes right-angles triangular plaques l i6, dis- '-'posd at een meer 'canne' iipfztnie1ffoys n "the front and backV faces of an articulated surface employed-to covera handbag, These hori- Zonta?. rows arethose on both sides of` the central horizontal row ofl the articulated surfacefmm which a nat bottom ofthe bag is formed. The

hypotenuses of-y thetwotriangular plaques at AeachA bottom corner of theY bag are laced'to opposite edges of a rectangular plaque H8 which fis inclined tothe fiat side edge vl2ll' and flatbotitom edge ofthe; handbag." The other pairof Iedges of the plaque H3 are laced tothe adjacent 'terminalrectangular-plaquesin the nat side and 'bottom edges. The remaining sides of the triangular plaques are laced tothe adjacent rectangular plaques in the front' and back faces of the handbag.

`It will thus beseen that I1 have provided a plaque, articulated surface vand handbag' ,which achieve the several objects ofmy invention and :which are well adapted tov meet the conditions `of practical use.

As various possible embodiments mig-ht4 be made of the above invention and. as various changes, might be made injthe embodiments above set forth, it is to be understood thatall matter herein described or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illus'- trative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

l. An articulated surface consisting of a plurality of horizontally and vertically aligned rows of quadrilateral plaques, each comprising a top wall and vertical front, back and side walls, said front, back and side walls each having at least two threading apertures therein, one adjacent each end of the wall, the apertures in juxtaposed plaques being registered; said apertures each comprising a through slot in a wall opening at the bottom edge thereof, a portion of said slot adjacent its open end being closed by a ledge which circumscribes and projects outwardly from said plaque adjacent its bottom edge; adjacent plaques in pairs of adjoining rows of plaques being articulatedly joined by non-intersecting rows of lacing, each row of lacing passing through one after another series of pairs of registered apertures in the ends of those vertical walls of the plaques which meet at a common point so as to form a lacing ring at each such point, which hingedly joins a plaque in one row to at least another plaque in the same row as well as to at least one plaque in the adjoining row.

2. For use as an element of an articulated surface, a molded plaque consisting of a top wall having vertical walls extending rearwardly from the edges thereof, and a ledge circumscribing said plaque and projecting outwardly from adjacent the bottom edges of said vertical walls, said plaque having threading apertures in said vertical walls, each aperture comprising a through slot in such wall running upwardly from the bottom edge thereof to adjacent the top wall, a portion of the outer side of said slot adjacent its open bottom end being closed by said ledge.

3. For use as an element of an articulated surface, a molded plaque consisting of la top wall having vertical rearwardly extending peripheral walls and threading apertures in said vertical walls, each aperture comprising a through slot in the wall opening at the bottom edge thereof, a

Iportion of said slot adjacent its open end being bridged by an integral projection extending outwardly from said wall, and a plurality of means within said plaque to guide laces into said apertures, said last named means comprising a piu- .rality of tracks, each integral with the inside of said top wall and terminating at an aperture,

the end of each track remote from its associated aperture being iiared.

4. For use as an element of an articulate surface, a molded plaque consisting of a top wall having vertical rearwardly extending peripheral walls and threading apertures in said vertical walls, each aperture comprising a through slot in the such wall running upwardly from the bot- 5. An articulated surface consisting of a plurality of transversely aligned rows of polygonal plaques having threading apertures on each side near each corner, the apertures in juxtaposed plaques being registered,l and means -to articulatedly join adjacent plaques in pairs of adjoining rows of plaques, said means comprising nonintersecting rows of lacing, each row of lacing passing through one after another series of pairs of registered apertures at the ends of those sides `of the plaques which meet at a common-point vso as to form a lacing ring at each such point which hingedly joins a plaque inone row to at least another plaque in the same. row as well as to at least one plaque in the adjoining row.

JACOB KAPLAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in th le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,020,470 Landis Nov. 12, 1935 2,139,512 Nagorny Dec. 6, 1938 2,294,089 Lobel Aug. 25, 1942 2,318,694 Kaphan K- MayV 11, 1943 2,381,860 Baggott L Aug. 14, 1945 2,393,486 Storch Jan. 22, 1946 2,398,118 Samuelson Apr. 9,1946 

